ERP Audit Consultant, Portugal

A system audit, separate from the statutory auditor and the accountant

Portuguese companies already work with a contabilista certificado and, where required, a statutory auditor, so it helps to say clearly what this review is. An ERP audit examines the software landscape: how it is configured, which controls it enforces, how data moves to the accountant, the tax authority and other systems, and whether management reports can be trusted. It gives no opinion on the financial statements and no tax advice.

The moments when a Portuguese business tends to need it are recognizable:

• A foreign group has bought the company and wants to understand its systems before integrating them.
• A service center has grown faster than its recharging process and finance spends days on allocations each month.
• A hotel or restaurant group has added sites, each with its own point of sale or property system.
• The implementer who built the setup is no longer involved and nobody has a full picture.

The work combines interviews with finance, operations and IT, sessions where staff show real tasks on screen, and viewing access to configuration and transactions. Draft findings are checked with the people responsible before they are written into the report. The core method is the one behind my ERP health check; what follows is what Portuguese rules and practice add to it.

Where are documents issued, and by which program?

Portugal expects invoices and certain other documents to come from invoicing software that meets the tax authority's requirements, and that status is tied to a specific product and version. An audit therefore starts with a plain inventory: every place a document can be produced.

For each program I prepare written questions for the vendor or implementer: does their statement about the invoicing rules cover the exact version and edition you run, and have any customizations or extensions changed how documents are created? I record what they say. I do not describe any product as compliant, and I do not judge the answers; your contabilista certificado and tax advisor assess what the findings mean for you.

This inventory alone often settles arguments, because it replaces assumptions with a single page everyone can read.

Series, ATCUD and the SAF-T export, checked for consistency

Document series and the ATCUD code printed on each document are where small configuration slips become visible to customers and inspectors. I sample series by site and document type and check that:

• each series in use was communicated before its first document, as your accountant expects;
• the code and QR element appear on every layout, including PDF copies, emailed documents and reprints;
• numbering stays continuous after software updates, template changes or a move between sites;
• cancelled documents follow the procedure your accountant has set, rather than being deleted.

The SAF-T export gets a separate check. A file that the system produces without errors can still be incomplete. I generate test exports for sample periods and compare their totals with the ledger and subledgers, then trace differences to their cause: customers without tax numbers, wrong country codes, manual journals bypassing tax logic, or documents issued in another system and posted only as a summary. Your accountant validates the file with their own tools and decides on any correction.

None of this asks me to interpret the law. The audit shows whether the system behaves consistently with the rules your advisors apply, and where it does not. For how the same checks fit into a new implementation, see my ERP implementation page for Portugal.

Recharges, transport documents and the payroll file

Nearshore service centers in Portugal live on recharges. Hours or costs are captured, allocated to sister companies with agreed keys and markups, and invoiced each period. When this runs partly in spreadsheets, finance spends the first days of every month rebuilding it. I trace a sample recharge from time capture to intercompany invoice and to the counterparty's acknowledgment, noting each manual step and every point where the allocation key could be changed without trace. Transfer pricing itself is a matter for your advisors.

Companies moving goods need a different check. Transport documents must accompany certain movements, and their creation and communication should follow the warehouse process rather than depend on someone remembering. I review how documents are produced for deliveries, transfers between sites and returns, and whether the warehouse can work when a connection fails.

Payroll usually runs at the accountant's office or with a payroll bureau. I look at the monthly file they send: the route it takes into the ledger, the accounts and cost centers it lands on, who reconciles it to the payroll summary and who can see the underlying salary data. Contribution and withholding questions stay with the provider.

Findings here often lead to multi-company setup work or a tidier integration, rather than a new system.

Access, licenses, reports and the written findings

User rights get special attention in Portugal because a few permissions carry compliance weight. I check who can create or change document series, edit invoice layouts, cancel documents and post manual journals on tax accounts, alongside the usual pairs of duties that should be separated: supplier bank details versus payment release, credit limits versus sales approval. Dormant accounts, departed staff and implementer logins left open are listed too. Personal data of employees, guests and customers is checked so each role sees only what it needs; your advisor interprets the GDPR obligations.

Licenses are compared with actual use: users billed but absent for months, modules in the subscription that nobody opens, seats shared between several people.

Reports come last. I ask managers which figures they trust and which they rebuild in spreadsheets, then trace the distrusted ones to their cause.

The report contains a summary for management, findings ranked by business risk with evidence, the document issuance map, the vendor question list, a separate list for your contabilista certificado and a proposed order of work. I present it remotely in a slot that suits the Portuguese working day; travel happens only by arrangement. Should the findings reveal a deeper problem, my Portuguese ERP rescue service follows on, and ERP optimization handles lighter fixes. See the Portugal hub and my ERP consultant page for Portugal for the rest.